Unleashed
by fishfingers-and-deductions
Summary: A collection of drabbles for Supernatural in response to various prompts. Destiel, Team Free Will, Gabriel and God are certain at the moment. Unbetaed.
1. Behind Closed Doors

Title: Behind Closed Doors

Rating: K

Character/Pairing: Team Free Will (Gen)

Prompt: Behind Closed Doors

Summary: They all know it even if they've stopped talking about it. Their lives are messed up. And they all have different ways of dealing with it when the case is done and the doors are closed.

A/N: For Rhanni. Unbetaed.

When Sam stops to think about it, the three of them have the most screwed up lives he can imagine. They've started and stopped the apocalypse, been vessels for angels and demons, gone to heaven and hell and always bounced right back into hunting. Sometimes he wonders if there's supposed to be a message in all the chances they get, if someone or something is trying to tell them to take a chance at life. It's so very tempting to just throw in the towel at times, give up trying to deal with Dean and the drinking, stop worrying about the trails of bodies that never seem to end even when they catch the monster, let go of the guilt that plagues him about every wrong decision he's made that has lead to death.

But guilt isn't that easy to let go of. Dean is the last person he could abandon. And to try and ignore the fact that people are dying and they can do something is harder than facing the fact that people are always going to be dying of supernatural causes. So Sam deals with the cases as best he knows how, he digs and digs until he finds something, he charges in with Dean in a last ditch attempt to save someone, he deals with Cas as best he can to get the most out of him. Jokes become rarer as he tries to work out the best way to stop hurting after every new death and Sam eventually begins to block away the guilt. He blocks it away and pretends not to realize that his main concern with Dean is rapidly becoming his own issue.

When Castiel thinks about the life he is now living, there is something right about it in a way that Heaven, though great and glorious and righteous, lacked. Human life is not better. There is no unconditional, total love, no singular sense of belonging, none of the power that comes with being one with the Host. But everything is so much more real and vivid and in the present. Sensations crash over him almost overwhelmingly, even though he is far more accustomed than any of his brethren.

But things are also much darker, much more lonely and pain and fear and guilt are so much more powerful when you have to deal with them alone. Castiel is no Dean; he cannot drown out the darkness with alcohol, no matter how he tries. Nor is he Sam, finding solace in the lives they save. Alcohol doesn't have the same influence over angels. He's not in this to protect the innocent. So when the day has ended, case closed and monster dead and Dean and Sam are fighting their nightmares, Castiel sits. He sits and watches over the hunters and fights in silence to quell his own darkness that rages in his mind.

When Dean ventures into the land of semi-deep thought, he knows hunting is the only constant in his life. Knowing about djinn and demons and ghosts and vampires and all the other terrors that should belong in storybooks, Dean could never leave it behind. That space under the bed, the dark shadows in the closet, that furtive looking guy across the road, to Dean they will always be dangerous, potential hidey-holes for supernatural monsters. And no matter how many he kills, no matter how fast the adrenaline pumps or how many people they save this time, nothing is enough to erase that knowledge.

He seeks to drown it out, in women and booze and junk food. Especially, of late, the booze. He's perfectly happy to leave Sam to dig up a new case or research some obscure mythology in the silence and safety of a motel room. Give Dean the rowdy bar and an endless supply of decent alcohol and he's happy. By the time he reaches the women stage of the night, his mind is so fogged that it's hard to remember that someone actually died today and that he always needs to check for monsters under the bed and in his arms. And when he finally sleeps, either alone in a pleasant haze or sharing the comfort of someone else, there's finally a little quiet in his world.


	2. Two Sides of The Same Coin- Tails

Title: Two Sides of The Same Coin- Tails. (Part 1)

Rating: K

Character/Pairing: Destiel or Dean/Cas. No relationship.

Prompt: Two Sides of The Same Coin

Summary: Dean and Cas are two sides of the same coin. Dean is tails, always reacting to things as they happen. And when Cas shows up near dead in the middle of a hunt, Dean has something new to react to.

A/N: For Rhanni. Unbetaed.

It's been six months since Cas pulled his vanishing act (again) and Dean's pretty much given up hope of ever hearing from the feathered jerk again. This time there didn't seem to be any reason for it, one day Castiel was with them, helping them with an awkward case involving a mental hospital (also not a first) and a trio of mute girls. Then Cas poofs off to get some goddamn rock salt and never comes back. At first they try looking for him. It's hard work, trying to find an angel, they don't to leave tracks like everyone (and everything) else. So eventually the boys stop looking. They just keep on hunting things, getting their own rock salt, and sending prayers to Cas, to God, to anyone who might have a clue about their friend.

Typically, Castiel returns at an inconvenient time. Sam had dug up a trail on a nest of vampires out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. They've tracked them to a warehouse that, when Sam digs up the blueprints to look at, is actually some kind of rabbit warren within a building and makes no sense at all. Plus, the floor has been covered in some kind of metal sheeting so no matter how quietly they try to move, their footsteps announce their presence. Good planning on behalf of the nest, just more Winchester luck for the boys.

They split up, Dean into the room they'd picked out beforehand as a trap, Sam to dig out the nest. He gets to play bait, leading them to the room where Dean waits with vials of dead man's blood, lots of sharp things and more blood painted across the currently open door. That's when Castiel decides to drop in, causing Dean to jump up and almost stab him when the sound of wings alerts him to the arrival.

Upon seeing Castiel, Dean's first thought is still to stab him. Only the realisation that in all of three seconds the angel is going to hit the floor stops him. The blade in his hand hits the floor with a clang as Dean swallows his anger with Castiel and steps forward to catch him, just as Cas's legs give way.

Dean hooks his arm around Cas as he falls, taking his weight and slowly lowering him down. "Dean," Cas says, voice not quite steady, reality not quite sunk in, lungs not quite functioning. Dean can see the blood on him, the glimmer of grace through seemingly harmless slices in fabric. Anger is still the first thing he can feel, after the shock of Castiel's unexpected appearance. But the state Cas is in quickly punctures that feeling, no matter how he tries to hold onto it. The rasp when he tries to keep talking, the hitches in his breaths, Dean's anger is shoved to the side by concern and a jolt of fear.

"Hey, hey!" he starts, as Cas makes to move, attempting to get his feet back underneath him and stand. "Whoa there, take it easy." There's not much point, trying to use his own strength to force Cas to stay where he is because the angel could easily just throw him away. It worries Dean that much more then, when he exerts force anyway and Castiel just goes with him. The hand that grips his elbow tightens slightly, though enough to cause him to wince, and Castiel tries to speak again. "Cas, you gotta take it easy man. Just sit down, I'll call Sam, see if we can get you patched up a bit. Cas!"

The last exclamation comes when Castiel's hand transfers from his forearm to the back of his neck, pulling him down close. His heart leaps, pulse elevating, as Castiel pulls himself up as much as he can, mouth brushing Dean's ear. When he speaks his words are faint, even so close to Dean that it could be considered inappropriate.

"…here. ..coming. Need to go."

Any wayward thoughts or bodily reactions fly out the window faster than a spooked ghost. "What?" Now's not the time but there's an unsteadiness in Dean's thoughts that he's not entirely sure relate to what he thinks Cas is trying to tell him.

The effort it takes for Cas to gather up the strength to speak again is clear and massive. Seeing Cas like this, so weak, so drained, is quite possibly the most frightening thing about the whole situation. He's seen Castiel coughing blood and trapped in a flaming circle and human, out of his mind on drugs. But never like this. Whatever had done this had managed to weaken the angel to the point of barely being able to speak. It was something new to Dean and he didn't like it one bit. "It..knows..here. They..they're coming. Go!"

Right now, Dean isn't planning on arguing. He turns slightly to hook Cas's arm around his shoulders and heaves him to his feet. There's a protest, unintelligible but clear enough in its intent. "No way I'm leaving you now," he grunts, starting towards the door. "You got some explaining to do."

That is enough for Castiel whose feet start moving. It's not really much help at all but Dean doesn't tell him to stop. Too busy throwing caution to the winds to shout, "Sam!" He waits for a moment, hears nothing. "Sammy!"

"Dean!" The voice is closer than he expected and Dean swears as he tries to whirl around and ends up banging an elbow on the wall and almost yanks his arm out trying to drag Castiel around with him. By this point the angel is practically a dead weight so this is a very bad idea. "What the-"

Apparently Sam can at least see Dean and his recently reacquired angel because the sound of running feet on metal flooring pounds Dean's ears for a few seconds and then Sam is there. For once he doesn't ask questions, just gets Castiel's other arms around his neck and then they're off. There's no chance of them catching a nest of vampires now, not with an unconscious angel and with Dean's shouting so the plan is just to get the hell out of there. Besides, Dean can feel something beginning to press on his senses, compressing his skin, making his ears pop, doing twitchy things to the edge of his vision.

Sam has it too, glancing across Castiel at his brother. "Is that-"

"No idea," Dean growls as they finally emerge from the old maze of a building and he makes out the shape of his baby.

Cas is still seeping Grace when they get him into the Impala and it lights up the car in an eerie way. Dean is still on autopilot, his focus is entirely on putting as much distance between them and whatever force has the mojo to almost wipe an angel out until they can find out what said force is. Sam hasn't said much, perhaps sensing Dean's dark mood or maybe he's turning his own ideas over in his head.

The lights of the nearby town have just come into view when Sam finally speaks. "Dean?"

"What?"

He's expecting a theory of some sort. Or a question about Cas's unexpected reappearance. Maybe this is a hopeful (and futile) attempt to initiate conversation about the nature of whatever could so seriously wound an angel.  
It isn't any of those things.

"He'll be fine."

Dean gives Sam a long look, blindsided by the unexpected comment. Where the hell had that come from? "I know," he tells his brother shortly, not in the mood for discussion of any kind. Sam just gives him a half smile, his infuriating 'I know something you don't' smile, and nods, turning back to face the road.

Leaving Dean to shake his head, totally confused. Seriously, where the hell had it come from?


	3. Humanity

Title: Humanity

Rating: K

Character/Pairing: Gabriel

Prompt: Acquired tastes

Summary: Gabriel doesn't find it that hard to obey God's order to love humans. At least, he didn't think so. Until he realised that he actually loved them.

A/N: For Rhanni. Unbetaed.

Humanity. The new baby. Made in the image of the big cheese himself. They're like a baby with a bucket of paint. Sometimes, they do what they're supposed to, draw their picture and coo and laugh. Most of the time they make a mess, everything smooshing together and making absolutely no sense to anyone but themselves. And every now and then, they make a true masterpiece, something that could never be duplicated.

When Dad tells them all to love humanity, Gabriel doesn't really care one way or the other. The way humans can rip one of their own to pieces and put another back together in the same breath amuses him endlessly. He honestly doesn't see the big deal.

It stops being so funny when his brothers and sisters begin to reciprocate. At first, Lucifer's sulking was just that, sulking. But then he said the wrong thing to Dad and suddenly Heaven is a writhing mess of conflict. Two sides tearing each other apart. It's not even over the humans, not really. Gabriel can't think of one sibling who was on the side of humanity, nor one who was against them. It was all rebellion verses obedience. And Gabriel hates the way everyone has lost sight of the entire point.

So when Dad vanishes, when he ups and leaves without warning, Gabriel doesn't even hesitate. He's out of Heaven and living amongst humans before Michael can ask him to herald anything.

Sex, it turns out, really is worth all the fuss. It's fun, it's exciting and intoxicating to live without a care for orders, easily the most powerful being around and with barely evolved monkeys clamouring to worship you. But he can't shake the feeling that he's letting his family down. So when the Winchesters show up, all arrogance and free will and angst, Gabriel doesn't hesitate to do his bit to show them what line to toe.

Michael's vessel, Dean, calls him out. They've trapped him in a ring of holy fire and the small man has the nerve to tell him what to do. Gabriel could have crushed him in a breath. Except the words hit home. This is Gabriel trying to make up for leaving home in the first place. This is Gabriel trying to make amends for feeling something he still feels.

Because he does like humanity. They're raw and real and understand the idea of free will better than he ever could. They make mistakes and they learn from them, they get hurt but they scar over and they keep going. Angels were made perfect, they never had to work for it. Angels were given lines and follow them. But humanity have no lines, they were made imperfect in order to seek what they were. And so often they seek perfection.

To Gabriel, that makes them better than the angels. So when he stands before his fallen brother in a monster made hotel, listening to the boys and Kali making tracks, he's okay with it all. There's no way he can beat Lucifer. In the back of his mind, he knows that. But he thinks that finally, after so many years, he understands what he stands for and Gabriel can say with truth that he's finally found his love for humanity.


End file.
